Steam Locomotives of a Leisurely Era – 1951 –Pacifics – British Railways

No.70024 Vulcan when new in 1951

No.70000, ‘Britannia’ which appeared early in 1951, was the first of the twelve new standard designs which British Railways planned to produce on a large scale to replace the older types inherited from the four constituent lines at Nationalisation.

No.70000 ‘Britannia’ at Purley Oaks
No.70000 ‘Britannia’; seen approaching Purley Oaks station, with ‘The Cathedrals Express’. This locomotive has just returned to mainline duties, after an absence of 14 years. Routing: Lewes-Haywards Heath-Kensington Olympia Broxbourne-Ely and return. © Copyright Peter Trimming and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

It was a 2-cylinder ‘Pacific’ and intended for all but the heaviest main line duties. In all, 55 of them were built between 1951 and 1954, Nos.70000-54.

No. 72005 ‘Clan Macgregor’ at Chester General, 29 August 1964
Chester General, unusual locomotive by Chester 3A Box, near to Hoole, Cheshire, Great Britain. View NE, with a Down freight headed by BR Clan class 6 4-6-2s, No. 72005 ‘Clan Macgregor’, one of a small class which normally worked in Scotland. License details: Creative Commons Attribution Share-alike license
In 1952 a somewhat lighter version, the ‘Clans’, consisting of ten locomotives, Nos.72000-9, were built for use in Scotland, whilst in 1954 a much more powerful 3-cylinder engine with Caprotti valve gear appeared, No.71000 ‘Duke of Gloucester’.

71000 Duke of Gloucester at Severn Valley Railway 2009 CWS

This was intended as a prototype for top link express duties, but before any more could be built the decision had been taken to concentrate on diesel and electric propulsion for the future, and it was destined to remain the only one of its class. It worked from Crewe on the LM main line, and the ‘Britannias’ were scattered over most of the six regions. These engines have done particularly well on the former Great Eastern main lines, and have enabled considerable accelerations to be made to the faster expresses, but they are gradually in 1959 being replaced by diesels.
70000 class – Driving wheels – 6’ 2”, Cylinders (2) 20”x 28”, Pressure – 250 lb., Tractive effort – 32150 lb., Weight – 94 tons, Classification – 7P6F
71000 class – Driving wheels – 6’ 2”, Cylinders (3) 18”x 28”, Pressure – 250 lb., Tractive effort – 39080 lb., Weight – 101¼ tons, Classification – 8P

72000 class – Driving wheels – 6’ 2”, Cylinders (2) 19½”x 28”, Pressure – 225 lb., Tractive effort – 27520 lb., Weight – 87 tons, Classification – 6P5F

70013 Oliver Cromwell at the Severn Valley Railway, 2009 CWS

My personal favourite – I wonder why??!!

Pic by oakparkrunner